Emphatic Competences of Future Helpers

Emphatic competences represent the central issue of communication competences, a stable personal disposition which indicates a prosocial orientation and the person's involvement in emotional exchange. Despite their importance, they are not paid enough attention in the education of future helpers. This research, the goal of which was to determine emphatic competences of future helpers, included 220 students of teachers’ training faculties and 161 students of psychology from two universities in Serbia. For assessing emphatic competences, we used the EMI Scale Genc, Mitrovic and Colovic. The results indicate that a number of students have a reduced empathy in all tested areas, as well as the necessity to pay more attention in education of students of these profiles of helpers.